‘After almost annihilating the planet, our relatives are friends’: a gripping podcast from John F. Kennedy and Khrushchev’s descendants.
During the month of October 1962, humanity came closer to annihilation than at any other point in modern times. This happened when a US surveillance aircraft found that Soviet atomic missile installations were being built on Cuba, a mere 160 kilometers off the coast of American soil. In response, President John F Kennedy ordered a naval task force to impose a maritime blockade encircling Cuba. The ensuing period constituted almost 14 days of impossible tension.
An Catastrophic Danger
The danger remained obvious. If Kennedy, or else his Russian opposite, Premier Khrushchev, had fired on the other side, a cascade involving worldwide atomic attacks and retaliatory strikes might have followed, thrusting civilization toward total destruction.
The October crisis has been documented endlessly, through volumes, movies, and TV documentaries. However, for its third season, a prominent audio documentary series titled "The Bomb" introduces an unprecedented perspective to the story. It is jointly hosted featuring Kennedy's relative and Khrushchev's descendant, family members of the figures who, over two tense weeks, held the destiny of humanity in their hands.
"What were the Kremlin thinking? What were the United States considering?" ponders Nina Khrushcheva, Khrushchev’s great-granddaughter and a professor of global relations.
For her, the unique appeal of the show is its attempt to explore: "How can nations detest one another to the point they oppose one another?"
"It was not lost on me how profound it is that humans have the potential to be allies or can become complete adversaries," states Kennedy, son of Robert Kennedy, nephew of JFK and now a writer as well as lawyer. "We see this repeatedly when countries enter into conflict, demonstrating how unbelievably stupid involved to engage in warfare."
The Precipice Towards Disaster
What is remarkable regarding this event is that, since it unfolded in the global spotlight, citizens around the world were able to observe almost in real time as it moved towards catastrophe. Even so, the risk of destruction came closer than what anybody understood at the time.
"The overwhelming majority in the White House wanted a military strike followed by an invasion," explains Kennedy. "If we had struck Cuba with the Sixth Fleet, it is certain Soviet forces stationed there would have deployed a nuclear warhead at the US Sixth Fleet, which would have sunk our naval vessels as well as sunk America's primary naval force. And, we would have responded with massive retaliation which would have ended all life on Earth."
The fact this did not occur is a testament to both leaders, who succeeded in remain calm while calmly negotiate when many advisors in their governments demanded military action. Consequently, Khrushchev removed the nuclear weapons in Cuba and President Kennedy (a fact not publicly disclosed at the time) withdrew American missiles from NATO ally Turkey. The relief was palpable, matched by the sense of optimism.
The Different Perspective
Yet, for those two weeks of October 1962, the fear was palpable by everyone. The Bomb’s presenters were born in the years following the crisis, with Nina being taught about the crisis via the Soviet school curriculum, which presented an alternative version of what happened.
"As you mentioned your father remembers it, describing it as a frightening time," Khrushcheva notes. "But for Soviet citizens, people really didn’t know a great deal regarding the crisis, because it was a crisis, and in the Soviet Union the official line was that things are always fine or positive."
Within the Khrushchev household, however, the perspective was distinct. "They told me what a great occasion it was, because it represented a direct confrontation. The leaders managed to find a solution, and avoided a global war, seen as a wonderful thing," she continues. Subsequently, though, that perspective would not be held by all Russians. "For a long time within Russian historical analysis, it was considered a failure for the Soviet leader, because he didn’t blow up the United States."
An Unprecedented Collaboration
This podcast is remarkably balanced and expertly crafted that Khrushcheva jokes she nearly forgot the known outcome. This effect is, partly, thanks to contributions from historians. But, truly, the most momentous thing remains the participation of the descendants. Even within living memory, it would be unthinkable for descendants of the heads of state of the United States and the Soviet Union would appear together publicly. The fact that Max Kennedy and Nina Khrushcheva can do that, and exhibit such warmth toward one another, must be seen as a symbol of progress.
"Max and I aren't the first," notes Nina. "After 1991, a relative moved to America where he became great friends with Dwight Eisenhower’s children."
"But we were strangers before the podcast," adds Kennedy. "That is unfortunate since we connected immediately and we are friends, something that is really great. Ultimately, following nearly 60 years of almost destroying the world, our lineages are now friends, so I think global relations is safer, a little bit."
Modern Parallels and Current Dangers
Is that truly the case? Part of why The Bomb feels so necessary is because we now find ourselves living through dark times. The symbolic clock of doom stands nearer to midnight in its history, in part because today's statesmen don’t seem to be able to grasp